New Year, New Problems 1: A Dino and a Special Cat
by Jlgjt
Summary: First story in New Year, New Problems series. Two parter covering Tai and Kari Kamiya. Both parts are now up! Rated T for a depiction of drunkenness and a frank discussion of the effects of alcohol in Part 2.
1. Part 1

2004: New Year, New Problems

Story #1: A Dino and a Special Cat

Part 1

Author's Notes: This story involves Tai and Kari Kamiya and what happens on New Year's Day 2004 (one day after the defeat of MaloMyotismon in American continuity) that causes them to formally introduce Agumon and Gatomon to their parents. This story also helps show how subsequent stories in the series will be shaped. Flashback/remembrance sequences are written in italics. Also the names I use as the first names of the Kamiya parents (Susumu for Mr. Kamiya and Yuuko for Mrs. Kamiya) are based on information found in Wikimon (http://wiki. look under Family of the Digidestined). Enjoy! Rated T for a depiction of drunkenness (in Part 2).

Date: 1/1/2004

Time: 8:30 pm

Place: Kamiya apartment, main room

"Hey, Susumu, great party! You somehow seemed to pull it off; I honestly didn't think you could do it!"

"Thanks!" Susumu Kamiya gratefully replied to the guest's compliment. It was his idea to host a New Years party with some of his coworkers in an attempt to distract them from all the craziness which had been occurring over the past eight or so days… monster attacks, supernatural events… it had happened before, four and a half years ago, and the explanation that had been provided to him for both the recent events and those of four and a half years ago was proving hard to swallow, to say the least…

Out of the corner of his eye, Susumu caught a glimpse of his daughter, Hikari (more commonly called Kari) taking several cans of soda and also some food from the food table. She started walking back to the room of her older brother (and Susumu's son) Taichi (aka Tai). Susumu had also noticed that this had been the third time he had seen his daughter do this since dinner time. He firmly and loudly (so as to be heard over the din of other conversations) spoke in the direction of his daughter, saying, "Hikari, may I ask why you keep taking soda and cookies into your brother's room? Why don't you and your brother join the party with your mom and me?"

Hikari turned her head to overhear what her dad was saying, balancing to keep her food and drink from ending up on the floor. Upon hearing her dad's words, she blushed, like somehow her hand had gotten caught in the proverbial cookie jar, and quickly scooted toward Tai's room, trying to keep her load balanced in the process. Before her dad could say another word, Kari had disappeared into Tai's room, Tai having quickly opened and closed the door for her.

A worried and confused look briefly crossed Susumu's face. Apparently his wife had noticed what was going on, for she now came over to where he was standing. "Something wrong, honey?" she asked her husband.

"I'm not sure." he replied. "But that's the third time I've seen Kari take snacks into Tai's room since we had dinner. Neither Kari nor Tai seem to want to join the party, and Kari seemed really embarrassed when I asked her about it just a second ago… could they be hiding something? I keep getting this weird feeling…"

"Like its déjà vu?"

"Well, kind of… remember what Tai was talking about yesterday, on the way to the summer camp where they went four and a half years ago?"

"Most of it went over my head… all I managed to understand was about the monsters we saw recently and four and a half years ago are something called Digimon from some kind of digital world, and that he and Matt and Sora and Izzy and the other kids there all had to help save it and Earth from the Digimon generating the shroud of darkness… it was all very confusing!"

"Yeah, it confused me too… but wasn't there something in the back with Tai in the car? Because I thought I may have been hallucinating when I saw a little monster sitting next to him; with all that was going on, I thought I couldn't be sure of anything I saw or heard…"

"A little monster?" Yuuko Kamiya asked her husband.

"Yeah, that's right. Yellowish, about 3ft tall maybe…"

"Did it look like a dinosaur?" Yuuko asked. "Because I remember seeing something that looked like a yellow T. Rex in the back seat with Tai, only it had longer arms and long claws at the end of those arms."

"That sounds right…" Susumu pondered, a thoughtful look on his face. "Well, if you saw it, than I must not have been seeing things… and that means I wasn't hearing things either when I thought that monster talked directly to Tai, during the whole deal at the camp about trying to open some kind of portal there… I was just running on faith alone, faith that they were right at the time, but now that I've had a chance to think about it, I'm not so sure anymore…"

"I know I was running on faith when we got to the campground, that if things got fixed those four years ago then they could get fixed now. But I think you're right, dear; I just wish we had a little more evidence to make sure what they said really is believable or not…"

"Well, when I asked Tai in the car about who was in the backseat with him, he kinda skirted the question, saying that it wasn't important at the moment and that we should concentrate on getting to the campsite. When I pressed the question, all he ever said about it was that it was a Digimon and to concentrate on getting to the campsite, that nothing else was really important at the moment."

"Right, I remember that… but now that the emergency is over…"

"Exactly my point!" Susumu concluded. "Tai and Kari seem to be unwilling to reveal more about what happened ever since we got back. I think if we go into that room and see what they're trying to hide in there, things may start to make sense…"

Yuuko's face quickly turned to an alarmed expression. "Dear, do we have to do it now?" she asked worriedly.

"Better sooner than later." Susumu replied, rising from the couch he was sitting on.

Yuuko gently pulled her husband back to his seat. "Honey, not in the middle of the party. It would create a scene, and besides we have guests to attend to. It's New Year's Day, a day for celebrating the new year; let's wait until after the party to deal with this, all right dear?" Yuuko smiled after saying this in order to reassure her husband.

"You're right." Susumu admitted. "We can deal with this after the guests are gone. Let's get back to the party; I don't want **my** confusion bringing it down." Susumu and Yuuko went back to the party, the conversation thankfully having gone unnoticed in the din. However, what was going on in Tai's room was always in the back of the mind of the host and hostess for the rest of the party…

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Meanwhile in Tai's room…

"Whew, that was close!" Kari said after she had recovered her breath from the fast traveling she had done to dodge answering her father's question.

"What happened?" Tai asked his sister as he took some of the awkwardly balanced load from her.

"Dad saw me and asked why we were bringing soda and food into the room. I couldn't give an honest answer without causing a scene, so I just ran for it. It was good thing you were ready at the door, otherwise I may have dropped something and made a mess."

"That wouldn't have been good." Tai concluded. "So what did you manage to get for us from the refreshment table this time?"

"Yeah, Kari! What did you manage to catch this time?" asked a curious cat, colored white with purple stripes on a long tail. This "cat" was actually a Digimon, specifically Gatomon, and she was Kari's Digimon partner. She and Agumon, a pint-sized yellow-orange T. Rex-like Digimon who was Tai's partner, raced over in the direction of Kari, expecting goodies from her hand any second now.

Kari chuckled. "Relax guys. Remember, we're supposed to be incognito. Shhhhhh!"

"Oh, yeah! I forgot! We're supposed to be quiet in case someone comes by." Agumon said. He and Gatomon shushed each other, then quietly chuckled, as if being incognito was a kind of game to them.

"Well, I don't think it's that funny." Tai thought to himself, scowling slightly in the direction of the Digimon. "And believe me it won't be, once we get found out… because we **will** get found out…"

Kari now quietly started handing out snacks, taking from whatever she had in her hands and also asking Tai to give from what he had taken from her. Some chocolate chip cookies went to Gatomon ("if milk is a cat's favorite drink, then chocolate chip cookies must be a cat's favorite cookie!" Kari confidently stated), some spice cookies were split between Agumon and Tai, and a couple of star cookies were reserved for Kari herself. Additionally, Kari had gotten a couple of root beers for herself, Tai and Gatomon (Agumon had already drank some soda, and he couldn't have too much because he might burp up some smoke or a wisp of flame, which would be smelly, embarrassing and dangerous all at the same time. This was an unfortunate side effect of the fact that Agumon could actually spit fireballs as his main attack against other Digimon; despite this fact, it didn't seem to damper Agumon's spirits… at least in any way someone else could tell).

All four in the room were quickly sitting on the floor; a general spirit of happiness pervaded the room, despite what had happened just yesterday and also the looming prospect of having to truly come clean about their Digimon. "Who wants to play a board game?" Tai asked enthusiastically. His reply was an instant and eager nod of heads all around the room.

"What kind of board game, Tai?" Agumon asked.

Tai rummaged around some shelves. "Just a second… ah-ha! I knew Mom hadn't thrown this out!" Tai produced a flat, rectangular, slightly dusty box with the words "Slides and Ladders" printed on the front. Tai walked over to the middle of the room, where the others were sitting, and set the box in the middle of the "circle" which Kari had gotten herself, Agumon and Gatomon arraigned into in order to make room for the game board on the floor.

"How do you play this game?" Agumon asked as Tai set the box on the floor in the middle of the "circle".

"I'll explain it to you once I have everything set up." Tai replied, opening the box and spreading out the board and pieces while managing to stuff a spice cookie into his mouth, causing the others in the room to chuckle a bit.

Yes, a good time was being had by Digimon and kids alike, but the kids knew that sooner or later they wouldn't be able to keep their Digimon under wraps anymore. The secretiveness of being a Digidestined was beginning to come undone, and neither Tai nor Kari liked it at all…

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Kamiya apartment, main room, 10:30 pm

"Bye. Have a good night." Yuuko Kamiya said as the last guest of the party left the apartment. Both Kamiya parents collapsed onto a couch, physically exhausted.

Susumu held his head in his hands and sighed heavily. He wondered if the "intrusion" into Tai's room would be worth the trouble at the moment. He considered waiting until tomorrow to deal with the issue until he realized that Tai and Kari would not likely leave the room unless the secret was safe. "No, I can't leave this until tomorrow! I have to know tonight or it'll keep me awake in bed." Susumu said to himself.

He wearily picked himself up and went over to Tai's door. He leaned over… and pressed an ear up to the door. From the sounds inside Tai and Kari were still awake, probably playing some kind of game. Susumu sighed again and returned to the couch.

"Dear," Yuuko began, gently grasping Susumu's hand, "we don't have to do it tonight. Just tell Tai and Kari to go to bed and we'll take care of it in the morning."

"No, I've gotta know now or I'll be up all night trying to puzzle it out." Susumu bluntly replied. "Because I think there's even more to the story than what we know now."

"What do you mean?" Yuuko asked, looking confused.

"Well, that supernatural 'blanket of darkness' had been on the news all morning and probably was on the news all afternoon too. I heard one theory that the darkness came from another dimension, and with what they've been telling me…"

"So you think it really came from a digital world?"

"Well, I haven't heard a better theory about what happened. No volcanic eruptions were reported, no giant meteors struck, and the fact that it was penetrated at certain points by what looked like giant beams of light and then disappeared so quickly and completely seems to exclude all other theories…"

"Wait, I remember seeing one of those reports. They had some satellite images of the spreading darkness, and then lights just breaking through out of nowhere. After a while the darkness just disappeared like that!" Yuuko snapped her fingers to emphasize her last point.

"Exactly!" Susumu concluded, his face brightening. "So if it is from another dimension, then the story starts to sound reasonable… but there are still details which don't add up in my mind."

"What details?" Yuuko asked.

"Well, we both saw something with Tai, but that's not the only unusual presence I have felt recently…"

"Oh?" Yuuko now looked very confused. "What do you mean?"

"Remember when Meko died, about, oh, 2 years ago now?"

"Yeah, that's right. What does that have to do with what's going on now?"

"Did Kari say anything to you personally just after we buried Meko?"

After a minute's thinking, Yuuko recalled the following:

_She knelt by her daughter at a small shrine for Meko. The cat had been buried beneath a tree near the apartment building, but there was no possible way to put up a tombstone at that site, so they had set up a small shrine near the apartment building's entrance. Yuuko saw her daughter kneeling and saying a prayer in front of the shrine._

_"Dear, don't mourn over Meko." Yuuko said to comfort her daughter. "Meko's in a… better place now. Don't worry about it."_

_"Well, I do kind of miss Meko," Kari replied. "and I hope his spirit really is in a better place, but I also know that somewhere out there is another cat waiting for the day I can meet with her again."_

_Yuuko was somewhat taken aback by what her daughter had just said. "What do you mean 'again'? Are you going to use the extra cat food to draw in one of those strays living nearby?"_

_Kari chuckled. "No, Mom. Didn't I tell you? There was a cat that had been waiting a very long time for me, and now I'm just waiting for the opportunity to meet her again."_

_Yuuko was not believing her daughter's story. "OK, when did you first meet this cat?" she asked._

_"During those monster attacks and that crazy fog. She was originally a very bad cat, but once she learned she had been waiting for me she became my protector and a very good little kitty. We went to that other world in the sky, and I had to leave her there. I gave her my whistle and promised her I would return one day. Don't you remember me telling that to you and Dad?"_

_Yuuko sighed. "There goes Kari's imagination again!" she said to herself. "World in the sky and other cats indeed! She's probably been feeding strays and is trying to rationalize it away." Yuuko just got up and started to leave. As she left, she said, "I don't know about other cats and worlds in the sky, but if it makes you feel better I will leave your story alone."_

_"But it's not a story Mom!" Kari was saying as Yuuko slowly walked out of earshot. "It's all real! Don't you remember the world in the sky and all those monsters? All those destroyed buildings? It's not a story Mom…!"_

"Huh!" Susumu said. "Because I remember having a conversation like that at the time too. I also thought it was just a crazy story at the time, but now… I do remember there being another world in the sky seen four and a half years ago, and it certainly seems possible considering the theories Tai and Kari have given us…" He trailed off in thought, then asked his wife, "Have you noticed a feline presence in this apartment within, say, the past couple months?"

"Well," Yuuko thought, "now that I think about it, I do remember having… feelings similar to those I had when Meko was around. I never could find anything though, and I just thought the whole thing was weird, so I ignored it. You think it has something to do with this?"

"All I can say is that I have had a feeling that there is more than one additional presence in this household, and I think this cat Kari mentioned could be another of these 'presences'."

"So… are you thinking two creatures?" Yuuko suggested.

"I know there's at least one… but we can't find out anything for sure just sitting here talking about it. There's only one thing left to do…" Susumu started walking toward Tai's door, determination all over his face, while Yuuko meekly and worriedly followed him...

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Meanwhile in Tai's room…

"This is a fun game!" Agumon was commenting. "I'm glad you suggested it Tai."

"Yeah, I almost forgot how much fun 'Slides and Ladders' can be." Tai replied as he rolled the game die. He moved his piece the number of spaces on the die, landing on an "ordinary" space on the board. "Your turn Kari."

Kari picked the die up off the board and rolled it. She moved her token, landing at the bottom of a short ladder. "All right Kari!" Gatomon cheered as Kari moved her piece up to the top of the ladder.

"Here you go Agumon." Kari cheerfully said as she picked up the die and dropped it into Agumon's outstretched "hand", indicating that it was his turn. Because Agumon had trouble rolling the die in the way Tai and Kari did, instead he rolled the die by clasping it between his two "hands" and shaking it around inside there, then directly dropping it in front of him. Agumon did just that to roll the die, then carefully (so as to not disturb or knock over the other pieces) reached over and slid his piece over the number of spaces shown on the die (he had trouble getting the coordination to actually pick up the piece and move it, so sliding the piece was easier for Agumon to do). Unfortunately for the Digimon, his piece landed at the top of a fairly long slide, and he was forced to go back over much of the length his piece had covered over the board. Agumon just shrugged it off and smiled as Tai repositioned Agumon's piece at the bottom of the slide.

Gatomon now eagerly scooped up the die off the board. It was her turn, and she now rolled the die in the same way Agumon had. However, Agumon noticed that Gatomon's eyes had flashed pink just before she dropped the die from between her paws, which worried him somewhat. But before Agumon could say anything, Gatomon had already reached out and moved her piece. The piece now rested at the bottom of a very long ladder which, when climbed, led to the last space on the gameboard, instantly winning the game for the player. Gatomon beamed as she slid her piece up the ladder to the final space on the board.

Tai was left completely taken aback by this. "**Again**?!" he exclaimed. "That's the third time in a row she's won using that ladder! Kari, are you sure she's not using her powers to influence the die?"

"Yeah, and I saw her eyes flash pink just before she dropped the die on that last roll!" Agumon added. "That looks like using her powers to me!"

Kari winced; she was afraid this might happen. One of the best kept, "don't ask, don't tell" secrets about the Digimon of the Digidestined was Gatomon's extensive psychic powers. When Gatomon had been a servant of Myotismon, she had used those powers in fighting against what would eventually become her comrades; because of this, Gatomon became very reluctant to use those powers after she became Kari's Digimon partner and joined the Digidestined. However, because of the missing tail ring, she had not been able to use most of the powers at all for quite some time, and with the double blow of the "return" of Myotismon and only briefly having the power to Digivolve to Ultimate again before having to give it up for the good of the team… well, Kari wondered if the temptation would be too much for her and, judging from what Tai had just said, apparently it was…

"Tai, you can't be serious!" Kari exclaimed, her face having quickly changed to one of shock.

"I am serious, particularly after what Agumon said." Tai bluntly replied.

"But Tai!" Kari complained.

"No buts, Kari! I am not playing with a cheater, simple as that!"

"Why do you think Gatomon would cheat?"

"What, you don't believe she could use her powers to fix dice?"

"Well…"

"Kari, she brought statues to life with those powers! Compared to that, fixing dice is child's play! She's cheating, end of story!"

"But Tai!"

"I already said no buts, Kari!"

Kari sighed. She didn't want to start defending Gatomon, but she didn't want the parents to get involved either. She looked over at Gatomon, who had backed away from around the game board and was now in a corner, her face turned away from the others. She heard her partner sigh, then sniffle. "Now look what you've done!" Kari said. "You've gone and made her upset again!"

"Well it was her own fault! She shouldn't have been cheating in the first place!" Tai exclaimed, sending a nasty scowl in Gatomon's direction. Gatomon's response was to turn around in Tai's direction and pull a classic "trick" she had seen done before: sticking out her tongue (in a very unfeline manner) and using a claw to pull down her right eyelid. Gatomon then turned around, gave a "hmph!", then just sat in the corner sulking.

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After a moment's silence, Agumon asked, "Can we play another game?"

"No!" Tai clipped out. He started taking the pieces off the board.

"Tai…" Kari began.

"Not another word!" Tai replied. "I am not in the mood to play anymore!"

"But Tai…!"

"What did I just say, Kari? No more!" Cowed by Tai's raised voice, Kari and Agumon watched as a very annoyed Tai put the board back in the box, closed the box and finally put the box back on the shelf where Tai had found it. Tai then went over to his desk and slumped down in the chair. He put an elbow on the table and leaned his head on it, giving out a frustrated sigh.

Kari and Agumon exchanged looks. "Something wrong?" Agumon quietly asked Kari.

Kari looked at the clock in the room. "It's late. He's probably tired and just a little cranky after what happened." she replied just as quietly. "I'll talk to him."

Kari went over to her brother and gently placed her hands on his shoulder. "What do you want now?" Tai wearily sighed out.

"It's about 10:30. You must be pretty tired. I'll take Agumon and Gatomon to my room so that you can go to sleep." Kari offered.

"I appreciate that, but I don't think it'll help me much."

"What do you mean Tai?"

"Well, that blanket of darkness MaloMyotismon made has been on the news all day I figure, and even though I barely managed to avoid 'naming names' Mom and Dad have probably thinking about what happened yesterday a lot, and… I don't know how much longer we can go on hiding them. I'm sure the party's over by now or will be soon and if our parents don't ask tonight they will tomorrow, and I have no idea what we're going to do or say when that moment comes!"

"Well then, let's deal with it now, because it may keep us up with worry if we don't."

Tai smiled and turned his chair to face his sister. "You're right. But… what **will **we do when that moment comes?"

"Well, we can start by just introducing them…"

"But we can't let them talk first."

"Right. We'll just introduce them, be honest, tell them to behave and be nice… stuff like that. And definitely tell them not to talk until our parents talk first."

"Agreed. Well, that didn't seem so hard!" Tai felt surprised and a little relieved.

"In principle anyway. Practice may be another thing all together…"

"Oh well, there's not much we can do about that other than not goofing up and sticking to the plan."

There was silence for a moment, then Kari said, "So… do you still want to take me up on the offer?"

"I don't know." Tai quietly replied. "Maybe…"

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**Knock, knock, knock!**

Tai and Kari heard someone loudly knocking on the door to the room. Agumon and Gatomon instantly began racing for a spot under the desk. "Taichi, Hikari, may your mother and I come in?" Tai and Kari heard their dad ask.

Brushing by the legs of Tai and Kari, Agumon and Gatomon managed to squeeze under the desk, complaining a bit in the process. Tai and Kari just looked at each other; the moment was fast approaching when all would have to be revealed…

**End of Part 1**


	2. Part 2

2004: New Year, New Problems

Story #1: A Dino and a Special Cat

Part 2

Tai and Kari heard the parents knocking on the door again. "Taichi, Hikari, you must be in there, please let us in." they heard Mom say through the door.

Tai took a quick look under the desk. Both Agumon and Gatomon were reasonably well hidden there, out of direct lighting. Another hard knock on the door, and this time Dad spoke, more forcefully than before: "Open the door please!"

Kari rushed over to the door, not wanting to create more problems by refusing to open the door. She unlocked the door, then briefly glanced in Tai's direction. He flashed a thumbs-up, and Kari opened the door a crack.

She looked through the partly opened door to see her parents, a suspicious dad and a worried mom, solidly standing in front of the door. "Oh, there you are Kari!" Dad said. "Why didn't you and your brother come out of that stuffy old room and join the adults at the party? I'm sure they wouldn't have minded seeing you."

"Ummm…" Kari replied, stalling for time and an excuse. She didn't open the door any further.

"You're usually so sociable." Mom pointed out. "Why did you decide to stay with Tai in the room instead of mingling with the guests? It doesn't reflect well on the host and hostess when their children do not participate in their party."

Kari blushed; when making the hiding plan she hadn't considered that effect. She needed a quick excuse. "But, uh, I thought you wanted an adults-only party." Kari said. This argument sounded more reasonable in light of the fact that the party served both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages; why be exposed to the temptation of drinking beer and champagne?

"Yes, I know we served beer and champagne at the party, but that doesn't mean we meant to exclude you two." Mom replied. "We would have made sure you didn't drink the stuff."

Meanwhile, Tai, who was standing in front of the desk, felt something tug at his pant leg. He concluded that it was the Digimon, wondering what Kari and Mom were talking about. "Not now guys, I'll explain later!" Tai quietly forced out in an effort to avoid giving them a long explanation which would draw attention to them and likely undo everything Kari was doing at the moment.

Meanwhile the defense Kari had thought half-decent had been pierced, and she was starting to get nervous. "You must have another reason you decided to stay in the room with Tai. Can you give it to us?" Mom asked.

"Ummm…" Kari was stalling again, as she didn't have another good reason ready to give out.

"Very funny, young lady." Dad said, a quite serious look on his face, "but I do not wish to play games with this issue. Let us in the room now!"

"Why now? Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Kari worriedly asked.

"We think you two are hiding something in this room, and we'd like to know what it is."

"Now?"

"Yes, now! Open the door!"

Kari tried another approach in order to buy time: "What makes you think we're hiding something?"

"Do you think we aren't perceptive, that we didn't understand what happened yesterday?" Dad pointed out; he sounded quite annoyed at this point. "Your mother and I saw some creature in the backseat with Tai when we went up to the old summer camp yesterday, and I am sure that creature was not on his Christmas wish list. Tai skirted the issue yesterday, but now that the emergency is over we'd like some answers from the both of you. What is going on in this household that is related to what happened yesterday?"

Tai looked pained; he knew Kari wouldn't be able to keep the parents out of the room much longer, but knew he probably could do no better even if he jumped in and tried to help. At least Agumon and Gatomon were staying under the desk…

"All we want are just some answers. That's all were looking for." Mom gently added in an effort to keep tempers, particularly Dad's, from flaring up.

A few moments passed. Kari still held the door only partway open, and both she and Tai heard Dad tapping his foot with impatience. "Are you going to let us in or not?" Dad finally asked.

Kari turned and looked back toward Tai. Tai shrugged his shoulders and then sighed, which apparently meant there was no point in continuing to resist. Kari turned back and very reluctantly opened the door fully, stepping out of the doorway so that the parents could enter the room.

Both parents carefully scanned the room for signs of activity or anything that would draw suspicion. Kari and Tai exchanged worried and pained glances; now the hard part began…

Suddenly Tai noticed that both parents seem to have focused their attention exclusively in his direction. Since he was still standing in front of the desk, he thought that maybe suspicion had been drawn onto him. His dad asked him, "Tai, why are you standing in front of the desk like that?"

"Um… uh…" Tai's face blushed red, and he no good reason to give his parents for why he was standing where he was, other than the obvious…

"I have to admit, under the desk **is** a very good hiding place for something, but it's not good enough to hide something from us." Dad said. "Please move away so that we can see under the desk, Tai."

Tai's eyes flickered back and forth between his stern looking dad, his concerned mom and Kari's worried face. After a nerve-racking minute of this, Dad warned, "Well Tai? I'm still waiting for you to move!"

Tai shot a pleading look to Kari, desperate to get out of the situation through any possible means. Kari mouthed "Don't bother trying." and sadly shook her head at the same time, indicating her disapproval of any attempt to defy the parents. Tai sighed, his last attempt now defeated, nothing now standing in the way of the parents having to know the truth about being them being Digidestined and having Digimon for partners…

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Looking ashamed, Tai slowly scooted away from in front of the desk. The parents looked at each other, squatted down, looked into the shadows underneath the desk, then looked at each other again. There didn't seem to be anything they could see under there… maybe they had overreacted, or imagined the whole thing…

Meanwhile, Tai and Kari had quickly slipped in behind the parents. They exchanged glances and Kari quietly asked, "Did they move somewhere else?"

"No, they would've been spotted." Tai replied just as quietly.

The parents traded glances again. Dad scratched his head in confusion, then said in the direction of the desk, "Hello...? Is there anything under there…? We know there must be something under there, so why don't you come on out? We won't hurt you, we just want to know more about you."

Rustling was heard under the desk; apparently the Digimon had turned so that they weren't directly facing outward and now were turning back in that direction, encouraged by Dad's words. Mom and Dad continued looking while Tai and Kari again traded nervous glances…

Suddenly, it seemed that from under the desk two pairs of eyes glowed, one a bright emerald green, the other a light blue so clear that it was almost like seeing to the bottom of a pool. Dad's eyebrows raised ("two creatures, two children…makes sense." he thought to himself.), while Mom was apparently unnerved by what had just happened, for she turned and nervously said to her husband, "Dear, there are things staring back at us from under there!"

"Oh relax!" Dad said, flashing a relieved smile. The fact that he had been essentially right in his theories had put him in a much better mood, and the tension in the room that had built up before was beginning to dissipate, putting Tai and Kari more at ease. "They're not dangerous, right?" Dad asked.

"Not unless you provoke them." Tai replied.

"Well, then, there's nothing to worry about, correct?" Dad concluded.

"Yes, that's right."

"Now if they would only come out from under the desk… must be dusty under there, probably cramped too…"

"They won't come out unless we tell them it's all right to come out."

Dad thought for a moment. "Are they here to stay?" he asked.

"As far as we know." Tai said.

"Hmm… will they require a special kind of food?"

"No, they'll eat most anything."

"Bedding?"

"They can sleep with us in our beds."

"Anything else your mom and I should know?"

"They know where the bathroom is, if that's what you're talking about…"

Dad pondered some more. "Well, they would know a lot more than we do…" he thought. "I think we can trust them with this, and it does feel… interesting having these… unusual pets around…"

The parents look at each other again. They nodded to each other, apparently indicating that they were in agreement. "It's settled then." Dad then said to Tai and Kari. "If they'll come out, they can stay and will be treated as part of the family. What do you guys under there think?" Under the desk, barely visible to the others in the room, Agumon and Gatomon exchanged glances, not quite sure how to react to the offer.

No more movement took place under the desk. Dad sighed; he figured they may not be able to trust him because of all the sternness he had displayed before. They deserved at least an explanation of why he had been stern. Turning to face the area under the desk, Dad explained, "If you don't trust me because you've been hearing and seeing me being stern and serious, it's only because people generally don't like it when other people hide things from them. I don't know if you understand what I just said, but please know that we just needed to be serious to get Tai and Kari to tell us about you two. Now that we know, we won't be overly gruff anymore. In fact, if you come out, I'd be more than happy to shake your, uh… well, whatever you have for a hand… or a paw. What do ya say? Will you come out now, hmm?" Dad smiled in their direction to reassure the Digimon hiding under the desk.

Agumon and Gatomon looked at each other, but didn't emerge from under the desk. "Great speech Dad, but they still won't come out unless we tell them they can come out." Kari said as an explanation.

"So tell them to come out; what's the problem here?" Dad said.

"They are **our** Digimon partners, so in their opinion they need **our **word to vouch for yours."

"Why do they need your words? We're your parents, they can trust us."

"Tell them, not me."

"But how am I supposed to if they're hiding under the desk?"

At this point, Mom cut in. "Honey, this is getting nowhere." she said. "Let the kids handle this, they know more about it than we do."

Dad sighed. "All right, fine." he conceded. "Tai, Kari, tell them whatever you need to tell them in order to get them to come out."

Tai and Kari nodded. They crouched down by the desk, peering into the shadows underneath.

"Do you want us to come out?" Agumon quietly asked. "I'm getting a cramp sitting like this, but I'm still not sure about your parents…"

"You can trust them." Tai assuredly said. "What's making the problem here is the fact that we had to hide you guys from them. But they know about you now, and they won't treat you badly. If you won't be difficult, they won't be difficult. It's that simple."

"Really?"

"Yep. That's all there is to it."

Agumon and Gatomon looked at each other again and thought about it for a moment. Agumon then said, "Well, if we're just making the problem worse… then we won't stay down here. If they say we really are part of the family now, then why we are hiding from them?"

Tai and Kari exchanged relieved smiles. "So will you come out now?" Kari asked.

"If you will get out of the way!" Gatomon insisted.

Kari chuckled. "All right, we'll get out the way then." she said through the relieved smile.

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With Tai and Kari now out of the way, the parents watched with fascination as Agumon and Gatomon slowly emerged from the dusty shadows underneath the desk. They dusted themselves off, then started walking toward the parents.

Agumon approached Tai and Kari's dad, who just stared down in amazement and some bemusement. "I'm Tai's Digimon partner, and my name is Agumon." he said to introduce himself, offering one of his hands to shake. When it wasn't shaken, Agumon asked, "You did say you would shake my hand, right? So why am I hanging here?"

Dad cracked a smile and, after a moment's hesitation, shook Agumon's hand. Even now, at the moment they actually made physical contact, it was still hard to believe what he was seeing and doing. "Well, at least the 'little T. Rex' Tai is with is actually a pretty nice guy…" he thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Mom was having a more pleasant and less awkward time meeting with Gatomon. As Gatomon had made her "grand introduction" walking on two feet instead of all fours, Mom was very impressed by what she saw and, when Gatomon got close enough, she let the Digimon cat jump into her arms. Mom instantly started grinning. "Aren't you a sweet little kitty!" she exclaimed. "You must be Kari's. What's your name?"

Instead of giving out her name, Gatomon instead let out a sweet "mroww", like a regular cat would, and batted her eyes. This caused both Kari and her mom to burst out in giggles, and both Tai and Dad started chuckling a bit as well. "Charming!" Mom managed to say through the giggling.

"I know, that's what I said when I first saw her too." Kari barely managed to reply.

After a bit of time to recover, Mom said, "No, silly! What's your name?" Gatomon this time gave her a confused look and also a confused "mrrow?"

Mom started giggling again. After a moment she said "No, you silly thing! I want to know your name! You have a name, right?" When nothing happened, Mom continued with, "Oh, come on, you must be able to talk. Tai's friend can, so why can't you?"

"But I thought you would like it better if I didn't talk, that if I just meowed like any other cat." Gatomon finally said.

Mom shook her head out of the silliness of it all. "Your name please." Mom asked. It looked like she was about to burst into giggles again at any moment. But at least the silliness had dispelled the awkwardness that had been developing before.

Gatomon obliged by saying her name. "That's a pretty name." was Mom's comment. Gatomon just shrug her shoulders. "Yeah, I guess." she said.

The whole episode may have ended with that if something about the way Gatomon looked hadn't drawn Dad's attention. Looking at her, it recalled something, maybe a picture, he had seen before… "Could I see her please?" he asked. Mom gently passed her over to Dad, and he gave her a through look over.

"Something up?" Kari asked.

"I'll tell you in just a moment, Kari…" was the reply. After finishing the careful visual inspection, he said with some surprise, "I wasn't sure at the first glance, but now that I've looked her over… I've seen drawings of cats that look at lot like her, right down to the stripes on the tail."

Eyebrows went up all over the room. "What kind of drawings?" Tai asked.

"Well, they were kiddie drawings, so they weren't very good, but the drawings do resemble her… the stripes on the tail, the ring, even the little purple tufts on her ears, all the details are there. It's very weird actually. I have them on my computer, I can show them to you now if you want. I think there is a story that goes with these as well."

Tai and Kari exchanged concerned looks. The same words ran through their minds – what happened four and a half years ago. "Well then, lead the way! Let's see the pictures!" Kari said.

"OK then I'll show you. Oh, and don't worry, all the guests should be gone. There should be no one else but us in the apartment."

One by one, the now expanded Kamiya family left out the door into the main room, Gatomon having jumped into Kari's arms and Agumon holding on to Tai's hand.

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As the family proceeded towards Dad's computer room, the bathroom door suddenly swung open and someone, apparently a young adult, stumbled into the hallway in front of them, blocking the way. The entire group came to a halt, and Mom and Dad rushed forward, leaving Tai, Kari and the Digimon further back.

It was obvious that something was wrong. "I thought you said all the guests had left." Tai stated.

"I thought I did too… but you don't go and remove people from a bathroom just because a party is over; it's bad manners and trying to will get you yelled at." Dad replied, looking worriedly at the young man that had just stumbled out of his bathroom. He knew it was a coworker he had invited to the party, and he didn't look very good at the moment. "Besides," Dad continued, "there's was no way I could tell he was in here, so don't go blaming me for this!"

The young man looked green and queasy (Gatomon thought of it as "someone who had eaten a lot of old fish"), and he had fingers over his mouth, apparently trying to avoid "tossing his cookies" (that probably the reason he had been in the bathroom in the first place). But nausea was not the only problem, that much was obvious. The eyes looked "glazed over", and he had trouble staying upright, several times nearly collapsing onto the floor before catching himself at the last second. And the worst part of it was that Mr. Kamiya knew that the young man wasn't dizzy but rather he had had a few too many drinks, and now he was endangering himself and could endanger the family as well.

Both Kamiya parents caught the young man just as he was falling again, and helped him get onto his feet, the young man leaning on a wall for support. The man lifted his head, bobbing and dipping as it was, and managed to recognize his older co-worker.

In a drawn out voice, the man said, "Hey, Susumu! What happened to the party? We were having such a great time, why'd you crash it?"

"I didn't crash it, the party ended at least a half an hour ago." Mr. Kamiya replied.

"No way! I don't… believe you! Where's some more of that great stuff you had out, I want another one of those…"

Mr. Kamiya put his hands on his hips. "What you need is a cab home, not another drink!" he bluntly stated.

"No, no! Just give me another one, I'll be fine after…" The man started to fall down, with the Kamiya parents managing to catch him at the last second.

While the parents again helped the man back on his feet, Agumon tugged on the bottom of Tai's shirt. "Why is that guy acting so weird?" Agumon asked.

"Well, Agumon, remember what Kari and Mom were talking about earlier?" Tai replied. Both Kari and Gatomon turned their attention to Tai as well.

"Yeah."

"Well, some beverages, like beer and champagne, contain a substance called alcohol, leading to the term 'alcoholic beverages'. When a person drinks too much alcohol, it begins to affect the person's brain and it also affects their ability to balance, which is why he can't stay standing." Tai sighed before continuing. "I was hoping that you would be able to avoid seeing things like this for a while, but uh… well, I guess I would've had to explain it sooner or later, and it happened to be sooner rather than later."

"Really? Boy, now I wonder why anybody would do that. It sounds like a horrible thing if you ask me, something you should avoid."

Tai thought for a moment before answering. "Uh… hmmm… unfortunately, that answer is not as easy, but yes, it's something you should definitely avoid doing. And we will leave it at that for now."

Attention now turned back to the parents, who were hopelessly trying to get the man to let them get a cab for him, as the man was not budging unless someone got him another drink. Mr. Kamiya was having a hard time trying to pull the man out of the hallway; he had leaned against a wall and dug in his heels, making it very difficult for anyone to pull him down the hall. There wasn't a lot of room to try to pull the man off the wall, and he was getting upset and dangerously pushy with all that was going on. Finally Mr. Kamiya just stepped back and reconsidered the situation. Words hadn't worked, strength wasn't working, and he didn't know what else to do about his co-worker.

Suddenly Gatomon jumped out of Kari's arms and started walking toward the parents. "Let me try something." she said.

Kari and Tai exchanged worried looks. "Are you sure about this?" Kari asked.

"I know what I'm doing. Trust me." Gatomon replied as she approached the parents. They look at Gatomon, then at the young man still leaning against the wall, then behind them at Kari, who shrugged her shoulders in response. No one, not even Kari, had any idea what Gatomon was doing…

Meanwhile, Gatomon had squeezed between the parent's legs and was now directly facing the young man. The latter looked down in surprise and curiosity. "Well, what do we have here?" the young man drawled out. "A kitty cat? You won't get anywhere with me, Susumu, by showing off odd looking cats in front of me! I want someone to get me another drink before I'll move from this spot!"

"Enough!" Gatomon loudly said. Her eyes glowed pink, and her tail ring did as well. The young man just stared down in dumbfounded astonishment, while everyone else just wondered what she was up to…

"Now pay attention you!" Gatomon commanded the young man in her best military voice, looking straight into his eyes in the process.

"I am listening." the young man replied, sounding like he had been hypnotized.

"Good. Now, stop leaning on the wall." The young man, much to the astonishment of the others present, actually stopped leaning on the wall and stood up on two feet, albeit still with great effort to keep from falling.

Needless to say, everyone witnessing was completely blown away by what they had just seen. Both Tai and the parents looked over at Kari, who looked just as amazed as they were; this was new to her too…

"Go to the phone and call someone to take you home." Gatomon now ordered the young man. In response, he started stumbling along the hallway back into the main room, passing by the astonished members of the Kamiya household. The man stumbled around in the main room until he was opposite the phone, then reached down and grabbed the Odaiba phone book, apparently to look for a taxi service. Leaning against the wall near the phone for support, he started flipping through the book.

All witnessing eyes, wide with astonishment, turned to Gatomon, who was beaming her lovable little feline smile. Both her eyes and tail ring still glowed pink. Not even Kari knew she had that kind of mind control, and yet here she was, getting the family out of a sticky situation. "Hey, whatever you're doing there Gatomon," Dad said, "could you also tell him to drink less next time he goes to a party like that?"

Gatomon nodded. She walked over to where the young man was. He was still flipping through the phone book looking for a taxi service, but stopped for the moment when he noticed Gatomon standing next to him. "What is it?" the man asked.

"Someone told me to tell you that you shouldn't drink so much next time you are at a party like the one that just ended." Gatomon answered.

"I'll remember that." the man acknowledged, going back to flipping through the phone book. Within the space of one astonishment-filled minute, the man had found the number for a taxi service that was running on New Years Day and had called it in order to have it pick him up. The man hung up the phone, and looked down at Gatomon, as if waiting for some kind of orders from her.

"Go down to the street level and wait for the taxi to arrive. That is all. However, let someone help you so that you do not fall down when you are walking." Gatomon commanded. The young man beckoned someone to support him, and Mrs. Kamiya went over and firmly grasped the young man's right hand. Together they started across the room, and the others just watched in amazement as they walked out the Kamiya apartment front door.

After the door closed behind them, Gatomon's eyes stopped glowing pink and the tail ring's glow stopped as well, meaning she had released the mind control. She was showing a satisfied and pleased smile. Very impressed, everyone else just stared down at her in confusion and amazement. (Meanwhile, outside, the young man suddenly realized that he had been removed from his place and was now being assisted down to an elevator that would take him to ground level. He remembered something vaguely of getting a cab, but not knowing why he had done it. He started muttering things to himself, wondering if something he ate or drank at the party was playing games with his memory. Mrs. Kamiya just chuckled to herself as she helped him along…)

By the time Mrs. Kamiya had returned to the apartment, the others had become engaged in a vigorous discussion with Gatomon and Kari. "You mean all this time she had those kinds of powers and you didn't even know it?" Dad was heard asking Kari when Mom reentered the apartment.

"She never showed me." Kari replied. "I knew that she had some powers like that, but nothing like this! This is new to me too."

All eyes, including Mrs. Kamiya's, turned to Gatomon. The Digimon said, "These kinds of powers are far too easy to misuse, so up until now I did not want to use them. However, after not having my tail ring and therefore the powers for a long time, I realized that these kinds of powers are too valuable to neglect, so now I don't have as much of a problem in using them."

Dad nodded and said, "Well, it must say it's very impressive how you dealt with that situation. Now as long as you don't turn that control on me, I'm just fine with it." That seemed to settle the situation, and Mrs. Kamiya now sat down by her husband, whispering in his ear that the young man had gotten out to the cab safely and was on his way home.

There was a peaceful silence over the apartment for a minute, then Kari asked, "Weren't you going to show us some pictures, Dad?"

Dad sat up, thought for a moment and then snapped his fingers. "Drat, I forgot about that! Thanks for reminding me." He got up from the couch he was sitting on, and the others quickly followed him down the hallway into the computer room…

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By the time the rest of the family had entered the room, Dad had already turned the computer on and was waiting for it to finish booting. "I told you there was a story with those pictures, right?" he asked. Everyone else nodded.

"Well," he continued, "I think it has something to do with what was going on four and a half years ago. See, some of the kids that were held prisoner wrote down accounts of what happened for a TV documentary that would have aired on the first anniversary of the attacks, but because they were still rebuilding when that date came the documentary never even got produced. However, the stories were released online, and I downloaded some of them out of curiosity. Some stories came with drawings by the kids showing what was going on, and it's those pictures that I was talking about."

"You mean, you think that Gatomon is the cat in some of those pictures?" Kari said with a surprise more forced than real. The reason for this was because both Tai and Kari had quickly figured out that if the stories were from four and a half years ago, Gatomon probably was the cat described in the stories and seen in the pictures, but neither of them wanted to tell any of that to anybody else just yet…

"Well, the resemblance is striking, that's for sure… Ah, here we are!" The computer was now completely booted up, and everyone crowded around the computer screen as Dad pointed and clicked his way into a certain folder on the desktop. He opened the folder with a double-click, and a window with several folders and icons appeared on the screen. Tai and Kari guessed the icons represented saved web pages – the downloaded versions of the stories posted online.

Dad double-clicked one of the icons, and after a moment the saved web page opened in the computer's web browser. He then slowly scrolled down the page until he got to the first picture displayed on the page. The picture showed what looked like a line of kids in front of a white cat with yellow "gloves" on and purple stripes on its long tail, and also a ghost with big teeth apparently directing the line. "Well, uh, you can see the resemblance for yourself." Dad said.

Tai and Kari leaned in further to look more carefully at the picture. The cat in the picture certainly did look like Gatomon: big ears with purple tufts, the yellow "gloves" on her forepaws, the long tail with the purple stripes, the blue eyes, even the ring was shown. The drawing was crude, but the cat in it was unmistakably Gatomon. Tai and Kari looked at each other, trying to figure out how to react.

After a moment's hesitation, Kari slowly began to read the text near the drawing: "After the ghost things took us away from our parents, we were told to line up in front of something that looked like a cat, only it was white with purple stripes and stood on two feet; it also had something that looked like yellow gloves over the front paws. We were to line up in front of the cat and then let it tell us whether any of us were the 'eighth child'. Nothing was making sense, but all we could do was do what they told us we should do, so I got in line with the other kids. After standing in line for a while, I was at the front. The cat said, actually spoke right to me, that the child wasn't me, and a ghost lead me away from the line. I looked back at the cat as I was being lead away; it didn't look very pleased at having to do this job. Was it just a job it didn't want, or was it some kind of punishment for something it had done? I never figured it out…"

Kari stopped, as she felt no need to keep reading. She looked at Tai, who raised his eyebrows up at her. The story certainly sounded like it was from the time Myotismon had invaded Tokyo, and when he was using Gatomon to look for eighth child Kari after Wizardmon had set Gatomon free from Myotismon's control and then had been captured by Myotismon and forced to help him by using her as "bait" to lure Kari out.

(Meanwhile, unseen by anyone else, Gatomon was desperately fighting back tears. The story was bringing back too many painful memories, and because of what had happened she was particularly vulnerable now. Agumon finally caught a glimpse of what Gatomon was doing, but wondered if he should say anything to Tai and Kari…)

Kari sighed. "Could we see another story with this kind of picture?" she asked.

Dad nodded. "Just a second." he said as he clicked around. He quickly loaded up a second web page with another story. This time Kari herself controlled the scrolling of the page; she found another picture with what was unquestionably a depiction of Gatomon heading a line, but the story around it was a little different.

Tai read the story from the screen: "I was in line with the rest of the kids, wondering how long I would have to stand like this, when I thought I heard something going on a little further up the line. Peering around the side of the kid ahead of me, I saw what looked like something in a black portal on the other end of the room, just behind the cat-like creature which we were lined up in front of. I heard an evil-sounding voice boom from the portal, saying something like 'if you lie, every one of them will be killed!' I presumed the voice was talking to the 'cat' and that it was also talking about us. It really scared me, and I saw the kids at the front of the line cringing; I don't blame them for being scared. I also saw the cat cringing and crying a bit as well; it was still shaking when I got to the front of the line. Poor thing… why did it have to be lectured like that? Had it done something that required such harsh treatment? I'll probably never know now…"

Tai stopped reading and looked at Kari again. Apparently these stories **were** from what happened when Myotismon invaded Tokyo, and if such stories were around… All the data related to the Digimon appearances four and a half years ago was supposed to have been destroyed, so how did the stories here survive that?... Did no one believe the stories now, or was Gennai reversing his deletion policy now that there was no longer really a point in trying to hide Digimon from the human world?? Whatever was going on, it was very confusing to the both of them.

But before they could get much farther in terms of puzzling out what the stories on the computer meant in terms of what was happening now, Kari heard some sniffling coming from nearby. She looked around to find everyone else having turned in her direction. She flashed a confused look, but then noticed that it seemed to be coming from a downward direction. She looked down to see Gatomon, who was quietly crying in her lap.

Dad uneasily shifted his gaze between the computer screen and Gatomon's crying face. He flushed slightly as he realized what he was doing. "So… is it really her?" he asked, though he felt it was a foolish question to ask…

"Unfortunately." Kari replied, a sad look on her face.

Dad continued to slowly look back and forth between the computer screen and Gatomon's face. He suddenly wondered how she had gotten herself into the situation and also how she had gotten out and met Kari. When he asked those questions, Kari replied, "Well… it's part of a story… a long, emotional story. It's Gatomon's life story really."

"I'd like to hear that story." he replied, suddenly overwhelmed by curiosity. Mom nodded in agreement; she wanted to hear the story too.

"I don't think she wants to tell it right now." Kari stated. "Besides I don't know if we have time tonight. What time is it anyway?"

Dad checked the computer clock. So much had happened that he had forgotten to check the clock, and now it was past eleven according to the clock on the computer. "Probably too late to bother trying to start the story…" he thought with some regret. After a moment he said that it was late, the story could wait until morning and it was important that everyone get to bed as soon as possible. Tai and Kari bustled themselves away to get ready for bed, taking the Digimon with them, while Dad shut down the computer.

"So, uh, now what do we do about it?" Mom asked somewhat rhetorically.

Dad knew she was talking about the "little friends" Tai and Kari had. "Keep this in the family." he firmly stated. "It was hard enough getting them to trust us; do you think it'll be any easier for someone outside the family? Tai and Kari have their group of friends they trust, and whether they know or not doesn't concern me one little bit. We don't need to be going around blabbing about this, messing things up more for them. Sound all right to you?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now let's get to bed. I'm really tired all of a sudden..."

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Approximately 11:15pm, Tai's room.

"Why didn't you let me brush **my** teeth with that paste stuff?" Agumon was asking Tai. Both of them were lying in Tai's bed, trying to get comfortable. The problem was with Agumon's claws poking every which way that was easier said than done. Nevertheless, Agumon had finally found a good position where he wasn't poking Tai, and Tai was just settling down when Agumon asked the question.

Tai groaned out, "Because you would need your own toothbrush, and you couldn't use mine because toothbrushes are too germy to be shared. Besides, I don't even know what would happen to a toothbrush in your mouth, and I don't want to experiment with mine." Tai didn't want to be bothered at the moment; he had gotten settled in the bed and also the fact that those stories related to what happened when Myotismon invaded Tokyo looking for Kari had survived on Dad's computer still bothered him somewhat. "I'll talk to Izzy in the morning about it." he said to himself as he turned off the light.

"Good night Tai." Agumon said.

Tai chuckled to himself. "Good night Agumon." he replied. "The life of a Digidestined is certainly never dull!" he thought to himself as he slowly fell into slumber…

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Meanwhile in Kari's room…

"We'd better get to sleep Gatomon." Kari cheerfully stated as she climbed into bed. "Tomorrow's going to be an important day."

Kari expected Gatomon to follow her into the bed, but when she didn't, Kari got out of bed again. She looked around to find Gatomon sitting on the floor, looking glum.

"Don't you want to sleep in the bed with me?" Kari asked with some concern.

"I don't know…" Gatomon weakly replied. She sounded like she didn't want to be talked to at the moment.

Kari sighed. "Look, I know yesterday was hard on you… and frankly I didn't know the stories related to what happened when you were Myotismon's captive even were around. And I certainly didn't think Dad would have had drawings of you on the computer. I thought Gennai had gotten rid of that stuff." She got down in front of Gatomon and smiled at her. "But… things can only get better from now on. Myotismon is gone for good this time, you got your tail ring back and we don't have to hide you from our parents anymore! Oh, and by the way, I'm **very **proud of the way you handled that situation earlier. That was pretty good trick, what you did."

"Eh, well…"

"Doesn't all of that count for something?"

"Maybe…"

"Look, I know you'll have to tell the story tomorrow but let's not worry about it now. Let's get a good night's sleep and it'll be easier for both of us." Kari smiled. "Besides, I like it when you snuggle up next to me in bed."

Gatomon liked those snuggling times as well, and the concept of snuggling in bed with Kari was the deciding factor for her. She let Kari pick her up and take her into the bed. She curled up next to Kari, gently clinging to her and providing comforting warmth. Kari smiled and said good night. She turned out the light and gently started scratching behind Gatomon's ears, causing her to make a sound like purring, only a bit louder and deeper. Kari smile broadened into a grin. "I'm glad you eventually found me, Gatomon. Don't forget that." Kari quietly said as she closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep, Gatomon quietly purring by her side…

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Sleep well, destined siblings, for you never know what tomorrow may bring when the responsibility of two worlds is in your hands. But at least the Kamiya siblings have something the other Digidestined, not even Matt and T.K., don't: a loving bond molded and shaped by daily interaction, a bond which is more fundamentally bedrock than the strongest friendship – the bond of siblings living together and fighting side-by-side in a common battle. In a world with change soon coming, this will prove to be invaluable. Always treasure it, Tai and Kari.

Agumon and Gatomon should treasure the sibling relationship as well, for they are destined siblings as well – Digimon brother and sister, more than simply comrades in battle but as two Digimon living together, being able to laugh and cry together on a day-by-day basis and, most importantly, being able to be honest with each other in a way friends really can't be. The days ahead may be rough and emotional for Gatomon, and Agumon should be ready to step up and be ready to sympathize with and cry with his "little sister". Be alert, Agumon, and have an open and understanding heart; you may need it in a world that is changing and will be stressful for you and her.

Courage and light – they are a good mix, solid traits to have in a world where a new order is emerging. The Kamiya parents are lucky to have both in their children, and they should never forget it for as long as they live…

**The End**


End file.
